Indiana storm death toll expected to rise: Authorities
More than 700,000 utility customers in the Midwest are without power.
Indiana authorities said the death toll from the week's devastating storm could climb as authorities worked to confirm reports of more weather-related fatalities in the state.
Earlier, officials confirmed that a 4-year-old boy was killed when a tree toppled on his home in Indiana on Tuesday amid an outbreak of severe weather.
During a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, Jonathan Whitham, the executive director of Indiana Department of Homeland Security, said authorities are working to confirm two other reports of storm-related fatalities in the state.
Whitham did not say where the deaths occurred, but authorities in the northwest Indiana community of Portage said a woman was killed in a house explosion officials suspect was linked to the severe storms.
After surveying damage around the state, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said he will likely sign a statewide emergency declaration.
Jennings County, Indiana, Deputy Chief Cody Low said a 4-year-old boy died on Tuesday when a tree fell on his home in Geneva Township, Indiana.
The tree crashed through a back bedroom of the home, trapping the child, Low said.
Three other people were inside the Geneva Township home when strong winds moved through Jennings County around 3:30 p.m. local time, but managed to escape unharmed, Low noted.
"This is obviously unexpected," Low said. "There's nothing we can say that is going to make it any better. We're going to push through this as a community. We're going to back the family with anything they need. Our thoughts are with them."
Low said another home two miles from where the boy was killed was also damaged by a fallen tree, but no injuries were reported.
Sustained winds of over 90 mph hit Hammond, Indiana, on Lake Michigan, causing widespread damage, said Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott.
The Wayne County, Indiana, Emergency Management Agency said on Wednesday afternoon that it was dealing with numerous water rescues from "historic flooding" in the county. Between 7.3 and 10 inches of rain has fallen across western Wayne County over the past 24 hours.
Emergency management officials said the rapidly rising water had also prompted evacuations in Cambridge City, Indiana.
Two flash-flood emergencies were issued on Wednesday in eastern Indiana. Law enforcement officials reported numerous flooded roads in Cambridge City and Muncie, Indiana.
Storms were training, or remaining stationary, across eastern Indiana and Kentucky on Wednesday morning, producing rain totals of up to 8 inches in some areas.
A severe thunderstorm watch is also in effect on Wednesday afternoon from Iowa to Indiana, with 75 mph gusts and large hail expected. Winds have already topped 70 mph on Wednesday in the two states.
Nearly 700,000 utility customers across Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia remained without power on Wednesday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.
Many of the areas in the Midwest and Ohio Valley that were slammed by dangerous, deadly storms on Tuesday are enduring another round of severe weather on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center has issued a two-out-of-five risk for severe storms on Wednesday from Nebraska to Kentucky, including the cities of St. Louis, Indianapolis and Omaha. The main threats are expected to be damaging winds, hail and possible tornadoes.
High temperatures across the Midwest are fueling the severe storms. On Wednesday, heat indices, which factor in humidity, are making it feel like 108 in Kansas City and 109 in St. Louis.
About 55 million people in 15 states from Kansas to Florida are under heat alerts.
More than 13 million people from South Dakota to Kentucky are on alert for severe weather, including life-threatening flash flooding, on Wednesday afternoon.
Flood watches remain in effect on Wednesday afternoon from Indiana to Virginia, where additional rounds of heavy rain are expected Wednesday night through Thursday morning.
There were at least five confirmed tornadoes that spun up from Iowa to Illinois.
Three of the tornadoes touched down in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, uprooting trees, damaging homes and knocking out power to numerous utility customers.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said on Wednesday that the three tornadoes near Chicago were all rated EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning they had the potential to produce wind gusts of 86 to 110 mph.
The NWS said two tornadoes that it confirmed in Delaware, Iowa, were both rated EF1.
In Chicago Heights, severe winds damaged the roof of the Marian Catholic school, prompting officials to cancel all student activities, and 250 students at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Flossmoor, Illinois, south of Chicago, were forced to shelter in place, ABC Chicago station WLS reported.
On Tuesday, two South Dakota Highway Patrol troopers assisting in a manhunt were nearly hit by a lightning bolt south of Rapid City. Officials released body camera video early Wednesday of the two troopers standing near their vehicles when the bolt struck just feet from them.
In the northwest Indiana community of Portage, a woman was killed in a house explosion officials suspect was linked to the severe storms.
In Ohio, winds were so strong that an Ohio Department of Transportation traffic camera captured a car being lifted and tossed upside down on Interstate 71 in Columbus during a torrential rainstorm on Tuesday morning.
In Grafton, Ohio, 16 inmates at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction were hospitalized after being injured in a lightning strike on Tuesday evening, correction officials said.
ABC News' Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
Related Topics
Popular Reads
ABC News Live